Sanctuary of the god Priapus, on the wall of a house in Pompeii (I century A.D.).
Divinity of Greek origin, venerated mainly among the populace, Priapus impersonated the sexual instinct and male generative force, and, more generally, the fertility of humans, animals and the earth. At Pompeii he appears frequently painted in an anthropomorphic shape, with an enormous erected phallus, while in other representations (like that in the picture) he was represented exclusively in the form of a phallus. As propitiator of fertility and generation, his images were often put in the gardens and vineyards, to protect the crops. For this motif, near the god were frequently represented baskets full of fruits. In Greece, Priapus was regarded as son of Dionysus and Aphrodite. His picture, symbol of the continuous regeneration of nature, was put also on the tombs, indicating the deep interlacement and complementarity between life and death.


[Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/]